


Together for a Year or a Day

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, M/M, Misunderstandings, No Actual Cheating Though, Politician Tom, Slight Possessiveness, Suspected Infidelity, Teacher Harry, but i mean it's Tom Riddle so what else would you expect, modern day muggle au, protective friends, technically, this is one of my favorite tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 08:12:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15190571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Everyone knows that Tom and Harry make the cutest couple, and Harry is very excited to celebrate their one year anniversary. The only problem with that is that Tom has no idea that they're dating.





	Together for a Year or a Day

_Now_

Harry was very excited to make his way to the Ministry so that he could pick his boyfriend up and bring him to the restaurant. It was their one year anniversary, and Harry had planned out everything to be completely perfect. Tom didn’t deserve anything less than the best of anything. He knew that sometimes Tom’s pride could get in the way of accepting anything from Harry, since he liked to earn everything he had, but on special occasions, Harry could convince Tom to look past the issues of money, and just see it as Harry wanting to pamper his favorite person.

He practically skipped up to the front desk, where the security guard, Stanley, offered up a big grin along with the clipboard for Harry to sign in. “Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. It is as delightful as always to see your friendly face around here. What kind of trouble are you and Mr. Riddle going to be getting up to today?”

Harry leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially. “It’s our one year anniversary, and I have done everything I can to plan out the most wonderful day. The only challenge is going to be dragging Tom away from his work.”

Stanley laughed as he took the clipboard back. “Yeah, that’ll be tricky. That man has been pulling a lot of all-nighters this week according to the night guard. There must be something important cooking up. All that politics stuff goes a bit over my head, though, so I’m not going to try and guess at what’s going on.”

Harry shrugged. “I’m sure that you know a lot more than most people would give you credit. All kinds of people talk in front of the security guard without even thinking about it.” He smiled. “Anyways, have a good day.”

“You too, Mr. Potter.”

Pleased at the way his day had started, with him finishing grading all of the mid-term tests that had been hanging over his shoulder for over a week now, and then going grocery shopping and finding lots of sales on the things he needed, and then a pleasant conversation with Stanley. That had to be a good sign that everything was going well. 

He took the elevator up to the third floor, where Tom’s office was located, and he couldn’t keep the giddy look off of his face as he made his way closer to his boyfriend. He could hardly believe that it had already been an entire year of the two of them dating. They’d been best friends for years before they’d gotten together, which had made the transition into a romantic relationship surprisingly easy. 

Not bothering to knock, since he was always welcome in Tom’s office, he pushed the door open, and then froze. Tom was sitting on his chair behind his desk, and there was a woman on his lap who was currently in the middle of making out with Tom. Harry’s eyes widened as he took in the betrayal, since there’s no way that this could be anything other than what it appeared to be.

Harry could feel the tears leaking from his eyes, but he didn’t want to start crying in front of Tom. He had no idea what could’ve led to this. As far as he knew, Tom had never been interested in kissing, or going further. Or maybe it was just Harry that he hadn’t wanted to do that with. 

He whirled around and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him before dashing back to the elevator. As he waited impatiently for the metal doors to slide shut, he realized that Tom wasn’t coming down the hallway. He wasn’t even attempting to apologize or offer meaningless explanations. 

The doors finally closed, and Harry leaned back against the wall of the elevator. He squeezed his eyes shut, doing his best to keep in his tears. He hated to look weak, and he knew that everyone in the building knew him and Tom, and their relationship, and they would all pity him if they knew what had just been witnessed. 

He didn’t want to walk through the lobby with his tail between his legs like some kind of idiot, so he snuck out one of the back exits meant for taking smoke breaks. As he drove home, he couldn’t help wondering whether this was Tom’s first act of cheating, or if he’d been doing it throughout their entire relationship. 

Harry dragged himself back into his apartment, which had seemed so cheerful and great this morning, but now was just a reminder of the fact that Tom wasn’t here with him. He looked around, but there weren’t very many of Tom’s things lying around. Tom lived in a big fancy place that had come with his job, and most of the time, Harry spent his time there instead of Tom spending his time here. Harry didn’t have much more than a couple of books and maybe a jacket at Tom’s place, though. Nothing urgent that he would need to get back immediately. Because he absolutely could not stand to face his boyfriend right now. They might have to talk eventually, but Harry was determined to go as long as possible before that point.

Once he’d kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket, he flopped down on his bed, and curled up around one of his pillows as he finally let himself cry. Of course there were worse things that had happened to Harry before, but that didn’t stop this from hurting so badly. Tom had always been one of the few people in Harry’s life that he could always rely on, and now that had been snatched away from him. He wasn’t sure what to do anymore. But he definitely couldn’t stay in a relationship with Tom.

,,,

_1 Year Ago_

Tom was busy trying to figure out whether the contract he was looking over was fair or not. He’d already had a lot on his plate, but an important contact of his had asked for help, and Tom knew that it would be very useful to have that particular person owe him a favor, so he’d agreed. 

He wasn’t expecting someone to burst into his office unannounced, though perhaps he should have. There was only one person who seemed to possess the uncanny ability to barge into Tom’s space during all the times when he was busiest. Sometimes it was nice to have the distraction of the younger man, but at times like now, when he was working on a strict deadline, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed by the intrusion. He was even tempted to take back his open invitation for Harry to drop by whenever he wanted, but when he looked up, he was met with the sight of an uncharacteristically sad looking Harry.

Harry was always so sickeningly optimistic and chipper that seeing him like this felt like a bit of a shock to Tom’s system, and he carefully saved his progress on the contract before closing his computer. “Harry? What’s wrong?” The other man’s usually bright green eyes were clouded with emotion, and were a bit red and puffy looking. And his normally glowing skin seemed ashen and sickly.

Harry sank down onto the small couch that was up against the wall near Tom’s desk, and he flopped his head back so that he was staring up at the ceiling. “Draco dumped me. He said that I was a fun distraction, but that he needs to get serious now because his company would prefer him to have the ‘perfect family look’ with a wife and children and the picket fence and everything.” He sniffled, then reached up to drape his arm over his eyes. “Why does this always happen? Am I really so unlovable that no one wants to be with me forever, with no ulterior motives?”

Tom’s heart clenched his chest on behalf of the pain his friend was suffering. There were very few things in life that could prompt Tom to actually feel anything besides pride, anger, and a hunger for power, but Harry was one of those few things. They’d been friends for a very long time, and they’d gone through a lot together. Anyone else probably would’ve left Tom behind ages ago, or worse, sold all of his secrets to the nearest news station. But Harry was a good person who’d never even consider something like that. And Harry’s friendship, for the most part, was something Tom actually enjoyed having. 

He got up and walked over to the couch so that he could sit down next to Harry. “I’m sorry that he said that, but anyone who can’t see your worth is a total dick who doesn’t deserve you anyways.” When there was a long moment of silence, he figured that his friend would prefer for Tom to just go back to work, and give him time to talk more when he was ready. So he went back to his desk, opened his computer, and quickly fell back into the long work of studying the contract he’d been sent. 

After a few minutes, he was vaguely aware of Harry getting up and walking closer, though he was still in work mode, so he decided not to pay it too much attention. Tom knew that he was a brilliant man, and he could focus on both the contract, and anything that his less intelligent friend might say to him. “Tom?” Harry’s voice sounded a little hesitant, and Tom let out a small grunt to acknowledge that he’d heard Harry speak. “Would you go out with me?”

“Yeah, sure,” he mumbled in response. As soon as he finished looking the contract over, there would be plenty of time to hang out with his friend. Well, maybe not plenty of time, since a politician’s work was never really finished, but certainly more time than he had at the moment.

Harry must’ve understood that Tom was too busy at the moment to leave his office, because he just offered a warm smile, and walked around the desk to give Tom a quick hug. Harry had always been a tactile guy, so Tom didn’t think anything of the action, even if it was something he’d hate anyone else for doing without permission. Then Harry left, murmering something about letting Tom get back to work. 

,,,

_Now_

Tom was mildly surprised to come back from his lunch break and find what seemed to be an entire army of Harry’s less than impressive friends standing around right outside his office. He arched one eyebrow, and they all glared at him with varying degrees of intensity. He would offer up one of his usual charming smiles, but Harry’s friends had always seemed oddly immune to them.

He opened his office door, and gestured for his visitors to walk in ahead of him. Then he strolled over to his desk, and leaned back against it, crossing one arm over the other and tilting his head to give off an air of casualness. “To what do I owe the honor of this ambush?”

Granger glanced at the other three, and when none of them said anything, she rolled her eyes and stepped forward to look at Tom with a big scowl. “How could you do that to him? Betraying him like that? And for what? Some cheap hook up that you probably don’t even remember the name of any more?”

Her voice was full of genuine anger and upset, but Tom couldn’t figure out for the life of him what the hell she was talking about. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t understand what you mean.”

The female Weasley narrowed her eyes. “Don’t even try to pretend like you’re innocent. Harry saw you in here on Wednesday, and he saw you all over some random woman!”

Well yes, Tom did occasionally hook up with some of his co-workers, which usually meant that one of their offices was the most convenient place to do so. He wasn’t sure why seeing that would upset Harry so much though. Was that why he hadn’t sent his usual nightly barrage of texts? Tom didn’t want to admit it, but he’d actually missed that. Probably only because he’d gotten so used to it by now. “My private life is really none of Harry’s business,” he pointed out.

All three of his guests stared at him angrily, like he’d just dished out some horrible insult. The male Weasley cleared his throat. “That’s a pretty unreasonable thing to say. If you really didn’t want to be with him anymore, you should’ve just said so.” He glanced at his cohorts. “Come on. Clearly we’re not going to be able to get him to see reason.”

They turned to leave, though the female Weasley paused in the doorway to look back at him. “You are certainly not getting any of our votes this year.” Then she stomped out with the others before Tom could ask them to actually explain what was going on. 

He blinked a few times in confusion, and then fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He could just call Harry, and then maybe he’d be able to clear up this whole mess. He furrowed his eyebrows when his call went through to voicemail after several rings. He couldn’t think of a single instance where Harry hadn’t been at work, but hadn’t answered a phone call from Tom. Maybe Harry had liked the woman Tom was with and Tom had forgotten about it? But no, that didn’t make any sense. Harry wasn’t so petty to get this upset over a little crush, and anyways, he couldn’t have seen the woman’s face without actually walking into the room, and then behind the desk, which Tom was pretty sure that he would’ve noticed. 

Well, if Harry wasn’t going to answer the phone, then Tom would just have to go and see the stubborn brat in person. In the end, Tom had a lot of contacts and allies and people he trusted to have his back in the political arena, but Harry was his only real friend. He was the only one who’d never seemed to want anything from Tom, and had always been willing to offer up his unconditional love. He glanced back at his desk, where there was a small stack of undoubtedly boring paperwork waiting for him. It would still be there later, and it would be best to clear the air with Harry as soon as possible. 

It never ceased to amaze Tom that someone like Harry, who’d received a very large inheritance after his parents’ deaths, lived in such a tiny little shoebox apartment. He could definitely afford better, and it wasn’t like he never used the money he’d been gifted. Though usually it was being used on other people, since Harry was stubbornly selfless most of the time.

He had a key to Harry’s apartment, just as Harry had a key to Tom’s house, but he thought that it would be better to try and approach Harry on his own terms, instead of cornering him in his own home. He knocked politely against the door, and then only had to wait a few seconds for it to swing open. It was a very small apartment, so that made sense. “-already told you that I’m not…” he trailed off when he saw Tom standing there, and then gulped.

Tom took in the sight of Harry, and internally winced on the younger man’s behalf. His normally untameable hair looked like a complete rat’s nest, there were dark purple bags under his eyes, his clothes were rumpled like he’d just gotten out of bed in them, and his eyes just seemed very droopy. “Hello, Harry. May I come in?”

There was a long pause, where Tom almost thought that the door was going to be slammed shut right in his face, but then Harry heaved out a long sigh, and stepped back so that Tom could walk into the apartment. He shuffled over to the kitchen area, and grabbed two clean glasses from the cabinet, which he filled with water, handing one to Tom roughly enough that some of the liquid sloshed over the side and onto Tom’s sleeve. 

Then they both walked over to the living room area to sink down onto the couch, though Tom was careful to keep some space between them, even though Harry usually loved to press as close to Tom as possible, probably just to annoy him. “I just want to talk,” he said softly. “Your friends came by my office today and said some very confusing things. I wasn’t sure what to think about that. They said that you were upset because you saw me with someone.”

Harry snorted. “Of course I was upset, Tom. Did you think I’d just give you my blessing and then bugger off? I thought-” he broke off in the middle of his sentence, and stared down at his lap, where he was fidgeting with the sleeves of his shirt. “I thought that you caused about me.”

“I do care about you,” Tom was quick to assure. “I just don’t understand why you’re so upset right now.”

Harry finally looked up to meet Tom’s eyes, and the bright green was full of fire, which was a lot more comforting than the dull sadness they’d held before. “Are you serious right now? How could you not know why I’m upset?” He jumped to his feet to stare down at Tom angrily. “You thought that I wouldn’t be upset about you cheating on me?”

Tom blinked a few times, though he stayed seated because he knew that Harry needed to feel like he had the height advantage at the moment. “What the hell are you talking about? Maybe you don’t understand how friendships work, but-”

“Friendship?” Instead of yelling, he sank back down onto the couch. “You- I don’t think- Tom…” He turned to look Tom in the eyes again. “You think that we’re friends?”

The honest curiosity in Harry’s voice took Tom by surprise. Not because he thought his friend was incapable of being curious, but because they’d just been friends for such a long time that he didn’t know how that could even be a question. “Of course we’re friends. We have been since the day you almost got yourself killed for me even though we were basically complete strangers. But I still don’t understand why you got so upset at seeing me with someone else.”

Harry sank back against the couch, and then tipped his head back, letting out a slightly manic sounding bout of laughter. Tom felt totally lost. Why was Harry just laughing like that? And it wasn’t even his normal laughter, which always seemed to fill Tom up with an unknown warmth, it was grating and sad sounding. Harry reached up to rub at his eyes for a moment before dropping his arms, and talking in the direction of the ceiling. “God, I’m such an idiot.” Tom didn’t say anything, even though he was usually quick to jump in when Harry said anything self-deprecating. “The reason I went to your office the other day is because I had this whole grand day planned out to celebrate our one year anniversary.” He sighed. “I asked you out a year ago, and you said yes. And we’ve gone on so many dates together, and everyone else thought it was real too. I should’ve known better.”

Tom tried to keep his voice gentle as he took in that new information. “You’ve really thought that we were dating for that long? You didn’t wonder at all why we never kissed or slept together or anything like that?”

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it sounds stupid when you say it like that. I guess I just thought that we were taking it slow or something.”

“I- Harry, you’ve always been my closest friend, and you always will be-”

“I get it,” Harry cut him off in a too quiet voice. “I’ll make sure to tell everyone else so they know not to hate you in my honor, or anything.”

Tom frowned. “I don’t care what they think. I just care what you think. What’s going through your head right now?” The idea that he and Harry had been dating for an entire year without him even knowing it seemed ludicrous, and yet, that’s apparently exactly what had happened. 

Harry shrugged again. “I’m thinking that it was pretty foolish of me to think that someone like you-” he cut himself off, and then sighed. “Maybe it would be best if you left now. I swear that I don’t want to make things awkward between us or anything, but I need a bit of time to myself. Even if our relationship wasn’t real, it certainly felt that way to me.”

Tom’s frown deepened, but he didn’t think that it would be a good idea to push Harry any more today, and he got up to head out. “If you need to talk or anything, you know my number.” Then he left after a few seconds passed with no response, and he headed back out to his car. Now that he thought back on it, he could see a few things making more sense than they had at the time. But those kinds of reflections weren’t helpful for anyone. It would be best for him to just head back to the office and bury himself in his work so that he wouldn’t have to think about why he was feeling so irrationally upset at the moment.

,,,

_6 Months Ago_

Tom kept giving Harry weird looks, but he’d been the one to agree to go out tonight, so he had no right to get annoyed about it now. For a smart guy, Tom didn’t seem at all eager to actually ask about where they’d be going in advance, and Harry wasn’t going to let him scamper off until they’d had at least a couple of drinks.

As they walked over to the exit a little while later, though, Harry froze as he spotted his ex standing nearby. He felt so strange seeing the other man for the first time in a month. Especially when he saw a pretty young woman laughing at something Draco said. Even though Harry was with Tom now- which was honestly the best thing that had ever happened to him, because truthfully, he’d had a pretty major crush on his best friend for almost as long as they’d known each other- he couldn’t help feeling something unpleasant in his stomach. It wasn’t exactly jealousy, he liked Tom far more than Draco anyways, but the idea that he hadn’t been good enough for Draco made him feel bad, and he didn’t like it. 

It would probably make the most sense to just ignore Draco and his new girlfriend, but Harry had never been very good at curbing his impulses. Before he’d even given himself enough time to think it through, he was dragging Tom over to Draco, and smiling in a friendly way. “Draco. It’s been a while.”

Draco seemed slightly startled to hear Harry’s voice, but when he turned, there was a smug look on his face, and he arched one eyebrow. “Harry. I’m surprised that you’re not still moping around your shitty little apartment and crying over not being good enough for the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

Tom scowled, and stepped forward to defend his boyfriend. “You better watch your mouth, Malfoy.” It was strange to hear Tom sound anything less than calm, cool, and collected, but Harry decided that he liked this protectiveness. 

Draco held his hands up in mock surrender, though it was obvious that he wasn’t afraid at all. “Sorry, I didn’t realize it was such a touchy subject. And who are you again?” Tom’s face was on television all the time, so even if Draco had somehow already forgotten what Harry’s best friend looked like, he should be able to at least recognize the man.

Harry gave Tom a grateful glance before looking back at Draco. He threaded his fingers between Tom’s, and gave Draco an unimpressed look. “This is Tom. My boyfriend.” Tom furrowed his eyebrows and gave Harry a strange look at that announcement, but then Draco was talking and both of them focused more on him.

“-disappointment. I’m sure you’ll be ready to dump him in just a few days. God only knows how you’ve even managed to put up with him for this long.”

In the entire time that they’d known each other, Harry had only ever seen Tom get physically violent two times. But the look in his eye seemed to imply that he was going for a third. As much as Harry would love to see Tom punch Draco’s smug face in, he didn’t want to have to bail his boyfriend out of jail, or deal with the fallout if the media used such an incident to slander Tom’s name. He gripped Tom’s hand tighter, and offered him a small smile. “Maybe it would be better to spend a quiet night in after all.”

Tom narrowed his eyes, but he must’ve agreed, because his muscles seemed to lose some of their tension, and he let himself be pulled out of the bar. Once they were outside, Tom pulled his hand out of Harry’s to stick it in his pocket, but Harry didn’t blame him for that, since it was a bit of a chilly night out. “That was interesting,” Tom finally said to break the silence.

Harry grinned. “Yeah, it was. Thanks for having my back in there.”

“No problem. Just try to give me a little advanced notice next time so I know how to play along.”

Harry wasn’t quite sure what Tom meant by that, but he figured that it was because he was buzzed and having trouble comprehending much of anything at the moment. He just grinned, and leaned forward to give Tom a kiss. He must’ve been more affected by the alcohol than he thought, though, because he missed and ended up planting it somewhere on Tom’s cheek. Tom rolled his eyes, but didn’t try to fix it with a proper kiss. Maybe he felt uncomfortable doing anything when they were both on their way to being drunk. Or Harry was, at least. Tom had always had a freakishly high alcohol tolerance. He wanted to hold Tom’s hand again, but he’d feel foolish actually asking, so he just dug his hands into his pockets, and stumbled over to a cab to go home. 

,,,

_Now_

It had been a week since Tom had last seen Harry, and everything felt so wrong. He thought back over all his interactions with Harry over the past year, and wondered how they were so different from the way they’d been before Harry thought they were dating. Maybe Harry had been a bit more tactile, and had pestered Tom to hang out with him more often. But nothing really noticeable. Tom wondered if it would’ve been easier on his friend if Tom had tried to introduce someone as his significant other at some point. But as soon as he started thinking about Harry, all he could see was the hurt look on the man’s face, and even though Tom hadn’t known the situation, he still felt like a scumbag for putting that look there at all.

His usual high patience ran out pretty quickly, and he decided to just pack up all of his things and go home for the day. After he locked up his office, he headed down to the main lobby, since he always liked to use the front parking lot. He always walked through the lobby, but he couldn’t remember ever actually exchanging any pleasantries with the guard before, which is why he was surprised when the man called out to him. “Mr. Riddle! Mr. Riddle if you have just a moment, I’d like to talk to you!”

Tom slowed to a stop and then turned around, waiting for the guard to catch up with him. “Yes?” A quick glance at the man’s name tag showed that his name was Stanley. 

Stanley put his hands on his hips and stared up at Tom. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I do know that Mr. Potter was heading up to your office last week looking like he was walking on sunshine, and now I haven’t seen him around here since then. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t like it one bit. Seeing Mr. Potter’s grin has always been the highlight of my day, and the only reason I can think of for him to stop coming here is if you did something.”

Almost immediately Tom felt an unfamiliar pang in his chest at the thought of this random man seeing and enjoying Harry’s smiles. Then he realized that he did actually recognize the feeling. It was the same way he got when someone tried to steal any of his ideas, or acted covetous of Tom’s wealth, despite the fact that he’d earned every penny that he has. Of course he didn’t think he owned Harry, or had a monopoly on his smiles, but for an entire year, isn’t that what Harry had thought? That he was Tom’s?

After a few seconds, he realized that the guard was just staring at him expectantly. He didn’t want to tell this man all of his secrets, but he felt like just walking away without saying anything would be a bit cowardly, and Tom prided himself on never being afraid of anything. “Not that it’s any of your business, but there was a simple misunderstanding between Mr. Potter and I. Now if you’re quite done sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong, I’d like to be on my way.”

He walked away, and even if Stanley said anything else, Tom wasn’t paying enough attention to actually hear it. After driving for a few minutes, Tom realized that he was actually heading towards the school where Harry worked, despite the fact that it was in the opposite direction of his house.

But he was already most of the way there, and as much as he hated that it was true, he did miss seeing Harry around. He understood that his friend needed time to come to terms with the fact that his nonexistent relationship had been over, but a week was plenty of time, and Tom didn’t think he deserved to be frozen out like this.

When he walked into the school, the secretary at the front desk gave him a friendly smile. “Mr. Riddle, I didn’t realize you had an assembly scheduled for today.” He’d come in to talk to the students about politics on a few different occasions since Harry had started working here, but Harry hadn’t asked him to come by in a while.

Tom hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “Not today. I just need to talk to Mr. Potter. I know that he’s probably in the middle of class right now, but it’s quite urgent.” And of course, as far as most people were concerned, there’s no way that someone with a face as angelic as Tom’s would lie about something like that. 

A look of concern quickly spread over the woman’s face. “Oh no, is everything okay?”

“I’m afraid it’s a private matter.”

The woman nodded once. “I see. Why don’t you just head on up. He talks about you often enough that I’m sure he won’t mind be interrupted during class by you.”

Tom wanted to ask more about what exactly Harry said about him, but decided that now wasn’t the time. He hadn’t planned on being on a mission like this, but now that he was here, he just knew that he couldn’t leave without seeing Harry first. He already knew which room was Harry’s, so as soon as he was given permission from the secretary, he walked quickly down the hallway and then up the stairs. He wanted to run, but there were a few stray students and teachers in the halls, and he didn’t want to look foolish in front of them. 

He reached Harry’s room and pushed the door open without knocking first. All of the students were busy typing away on the laptops on their desks, while Harry sat at his own desk in the back of the room, talking quietly with someone Tom vaguely recognized as one of the physical education teachers. Whatever the man had just said made Harry laugh, and Tom narrowed his eyes. 

He stalked across the room, and then Harry finally seemed to notice him there. He blinked a few times, and then stood up, looking at Tom with confusion. “What’s going on? Why are you here right now?”

Tom pushed past the gym teacher to grab the front of Harry’s shirt, and yank him closer so that they were close enough for Tom to take in every single detail of his best friend. “Did you get over me that quickly?” he asked in a quiet growl. He was aware of the fact that all of the students were now watching him and Harry instead of doing their work, but he didn’t care. 

Harry shoved at Tom’s chest and took a step back. “What the hell do you want from me? I thought you wanted us to just be normal friends. Or are you so wrapped up in your own ego that you can’t stand the idea of not having someone love you?”

Tom’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You love me?”

That brought a lovely red blush to Harry’s cheeks. I know you aren’t really comfortable with emotions and stuff, so I thought that it would be best to not say anything,” he mumbled.

Tom smiled, though Harry was so busy staring at the floor that he couldn’t see it. “I’ve been a huge idiot. I could’ve had you all this time, but I was too foolish to even see it.” He reached out to gently press his fingers under Harry’s chin to tilt the younger man’s head back so that their eyes could meet. “You weren’t clear enough the first time around. I didn’t understand what you wanted from me. But now I do. And I know that having to go so long without seeing you or hearing from you was hell. You know that I don’t say it lightly when I say that you’re the only person I care about.” He dropped his arms so that he could gently take Harry’s hands in his own, and Harry continued looking at him as though there were nothing more important in the entire world. “What do you say we try this again? But make sure to speak really clearly, okay?”

Harry looked hesitant, but then he cleared his throat, and dropped his gaze so that he was staring at the top of Tom’s nose. “Do you… Do you want to go out with me?”

Tom grinned, and nodded. “I thought that you’d never ask.” Then he swooped in to take their first kiss, ignoring the hoots and cheering of all the students. The gym teacher mumbled something about preparing for his next class before hurrying off. Tom sighed once, and he was afraid that he might not be able to stop smiling. “I want it to be real this time.”

“Me too. I really do love you.” After a couple minutes of them staring into each other’s eyes like a couple of idiotic teenagers, Harry turned away to face his class. “And I hope you know that your assignment is still due before the bell rings!” which was met with a loud chorus of groans, followed by the clacking of twenty keyboards being used at once. He looked back at Tom. “I’m really happy right now,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

Tom couldn’t keep the sappiness out of his voice. “I’m very happy right now too. Though I must politely request that you stop speaking with the lobby guard at the Ministry.”

Harry let out a startled laugh. “What? Why?”

“Now that I’m fully aware of our relationship, I don’t plan on sharing you with anyone.”

Harry shivered, but he looked happier than he had in a while, and Tom knew that this was the right thing to do. Maybe he’d missed out on a year of their relationship, but he planned on making up for every single minute of it, and from the way Harry was looking at him, he knew that his boyfriend wouldn’t mind at all.


End file.
